In view of the Day of Missionary Martyrs, we remember Sister Maria De Coppi, 83, killed during a terrorist attack on September 6, 2022 in the mission of Chipene, in Mozambique. The sisters and the two fidei donum missionaries from the diocese of Concordia-Pordenone miraculously survived
«The rebels attacked the mission, setting fire to all the parish buildings. Sister Maria De Coppi, a Comboni missionary originally from Vittorio Veneto, was killed during the ambush. All survivors fled towards Nacala. Don Lorenzo and Don Loris are alive!».
This is the tragic message spread by the diocese of Concordia-Pordenone to which the two belong the gift of faith Fr Lorenzo Barro and Fr Loris Vignadel, who miraculously survived the attack and devastation of the Chipene mission in northern Mozambique.
«The news regarding the sisters present there is uncertain and during the night it was not possible to reach them to get more precise information – confirmed a dramatic communiqué from the Comboni Missionaries -. The only sister we have had contact with is Sister Eleonora Reboldi, who ran away to the forest with some girls. We are also worried about Sister Angeles López Hernández…».
What is certain is that Sister Maria – 83 years old, originally from Vittorio Veneto, a “veteran” from Mozambique, where she had arrived in 1963 – was killed by gunshots, while trying to alert the few girls left on the mission. The others had escaped in the afternoon with Sister Eleonora, while the boys had all been sent back to their villages. This made it possible to avoid a real massacre. Even if they are still excited hours in which it is difficult to reconstruct exactly what happened.
«After a first very rapid contact during the night, in which we learned that they were alive – confirms Alex Zappalà, head of diocesan missionary animation and personal secretary of Bishop Giuseppe Pellegrini -, we were able to speak with our two missionaries only the following morning , when they finally found themselves in a more secure situation, after being escaped on foot».
That they survived is a miracle. The assailants, in fact, would belong to the group jihadist “al-Shabaab”, which has been terrorizing and devastating the hydrocarbon-rich Cabo Delgado region for years. Arrived at Chipene, they have set on fire and completely razed all mission buildingssaving only the two rooms in which i had locked themselves up the gift of faith. “When they realized that the situation was calm again – says Zappalà – they went out and found a total devastation and unfortunately also the body of Sister Maria”.
That the situation could escalate was somehow in the air, but no one expected such an attack. In June 2022, the militiamen had already pushed beyond the Lurio river, causing the flight of many people who had taken refuge on a mission, but who had then returned to their villages. No one could imagine that the group jihadist could carry out such a terrorist action so far south, “violating” even the territory of Nampula. A truly worrying signal – by the way, “signed” in a macabre way with the beheading of two village authorities of Chipene -, which indicates that the group has further strengthened, despite the presence of Rwandan soldiers, hired by the government, which seemed to have put a stop to its advance. Apparently, however, the terrorists aimed to reach as far as Nacala – the seat of the diocese to which the Chipene mission belongs – but above all the deepest port in southern Africa.
«Given the situation – testifies Zappalà – last summer we canceled the sending of a group of young people on a purely prudential basis. However, the bishop, Monsignor Giuseppe Pellegrini, and I went on a visit at the end of July, also to inaugurate some new mission structures. Despite some worrying signs, it was unimaginable that such an attack could happen and such a tragedy happen.
And then a memory of Sister Maria: «She told us, as only elderly missionaries know how to do, how she had arrived in Mozambique by sea, after three months of navigation, and how she had already lived through the entire civil war that divided the country. “But aren’t you afraid?” we asked her. She answered us with a smile.”